THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



393 







BIRD HALIj, with the SKELETON OF THE ELErHANIf " JUMBO " IN THE FOREGROUND. 



sington ]\rnseuin, London. In these groups the 

 nesting habits of various species are illustrated by 

 transferring the identical branch, or bit of ground 

 on which the Jicst was built, and rcproducitig ar- 

 tificially surrounding details of vegetation to sub- 

 stitute for the perishable natural ones. The birds 

 are in most cases the very j'air that built the nest, 

 and the nest exactly as they placed it. Each 

 group has a descriptive label — a system for giv- 

 ing information used throughout the museum. 



THE HADRASAUBU3 FOULKII, RESTORED. 



The materials for these groups were for the most 

 part gatliered by Mr. Jenness Richardson, in 

 charge of the Taxidermic Department. 



The exhibition of shells consists mainly of 

 the Jay collection, presented to the museum by 

 Miss Catharine L. "Wolfe, as a memorial gift in 

 honor of her father, John David Wolfe, first pres- 

 ident of the museum. This collection comprises 

 over 50,000 specimens, whose varied forms and 

 lovely tints are fascinating to the most casual ob- 

 server ; and, as with everything in nat- 

 ure, study unfolds Avouders couctrning 

 unseen life. 



The Department of Geology, in charge 

 of Professor R. P. Whitfield, includes 

 the great Hall collection, the richest 

 and most extensive collection of Ameri- 

 can invertebrate fossils in the v\'orld. 

 Here are seen the remains of plants and 

 animals that once lived in the ocean, or 

 were washed into it from the land and 

 buried in the mud at the bottom, and 

 have been found preserved in the rocks 

 formed from that mud. These fossils 

 are often fragmentary ; but many of 

 them are wonderfully perfect, and view- 

 ed under a magnifying glass their deli- 

 cate beauty is revealed. A very at- 

 tractive form of organic remains has 



